Love potions and their consequences
by SingularOddities
Summary: What if Harry had been dosed with love potions? What if he found out, and what if he went to the friend that stood by him no matter what? The friend that would do anything to help their friend.


A/N This has probably been done, but it came to me and wouldn't leave me alone so...

* * *

The door to her office opened suddenly and violently, hitting the wall behind it hard enough to make the picture frames hung on it jump and rattle. Hermione's head lifted, neck muscles protesting at the sudden movement, her eyes blinked blearily as she lifted her gaze from the parchment she was studying. She caught a glimpse of the enchanted window opposite the door, the dark night sky illuminated by stars and a large moon that wouldn't be visible through London's light pollution. That told her how her visitor had gotten to her door without her getting advance warning. There was no one left to warn her, they would all be at home with their families. Much like she would expect Harry to be. Which made it curious that he was stood in her doorway, dressed in his Auror robes, hurt, and fury roiling around him like a cloud.

"Did you know?" he spat as he advanced into her office. "Did you? Because I swear to God if you did I would not be held responsible for my actions." He stopped at the side of her desk looming over her chair. His hands clenched in tight white fists, his eyes hard green emeralds

"Harry?" she asked dumbly not understanding what had tipped her best friend's temper over. "Did I know what? I've been here literally all day, I've not seen anyone or a newspaper. What's happened?"

Harry whirled away from her, his hands fisting into his hair tugging on it. "What do I do Hermione? What the fuck do I do?"

He started pacing the only clear patch in her office. The strip behind her visitor's chair and in front of the bookcases that held all her reference texts. It wasn't a large space, he barely managed five paces before having to spin and retrace his steps.

Deciding that the situation probably warranted her full attention, Hermione fumbled for her wand under the piles of notes, rolls of parchments, and open books on her desk. Harry scowled at her, with a deft flick of his wrist released his wand from his arm holster and thrust it at her.

"You haven't answered me, did you know?"

Hermione took the proffered wand and flicked it at her door closing and warding it for privacy. The second flick transfigured her visitor's chair into a small two-seater sofa that took up most of the space, and sent Harry hopping out of the way before it crushed his feet. The third banished the contents of her cup and the over brewed tea from her teapot and set the water in the kettle boiling. A fourth flick and a second cup sat alongside hers waiting for the new tea. She might have resented Molly Weasley only teaching her and Ginny the household charms and spells, but she couldn't deny that they were useful and efficient.

Hermione handed the wand back before filling the pot with tea leaves and the fresh water. Leaving it to steep while she laid out the tea things. Her brain finally rebooted by the familiarity of the actions, she turned back to Harry taking in his dishevelled state with concern.

"Do I know what? My unofficial title of 'know-it-all' indicates that I know a lot of things. You are going to have to be more specific. Also, sit down and stop scowling at me. Whatever it is I'll help you fix it."

Harry sat. Hermione fixed their tea and joined him on the sofa, kicking off her shoes and tucking her feet up under herself.

"Ginny dosed me with love potion," Harry said watching her closely for her reaction.

"When? Last night? At the weekend? It's not uncommon for them to be used recreationally between couples."

"Nineteen-ninety-one."

Hermione froze in the act of raising her cup to her mouth. Her eyes jumped to his, his expression was a mixture of angry betrayal she had seen before. She completed the action, swallowing the mouthful of tea for fortification before placing the cup on her desk and turning to face him fully.

"Couple of things. No, I absolutely did not know. You would have been the first person I told had I found out. Secondly, Ginny was ten in nineteen-ninety-one, she was not slipping you love potions then despite her crush. She wouldn't have been able to brew them, and no trader, no matter how dodgy or backstreet they were, would sell them to a ten-year-old. Thirdly, how do you know?"

Harry put his untouched cup next to Hermione's. Propping his elbows on his knees his head sank into his hands. He felt Hermione move closer, wrapping an arm around him, pulling into a comforting hug.

"I had to ask," he offered by way of apology.

Hermione hummed at him in wordless agreement.

"I had a scan at St Mungo's. I've been feeling off. Nothing major, just off you know, like a summer cold was waiting to come in or something." Harry lifted his head. He sat up, leaning against the sofa back. Hermione shifted, so she sat sideways, one hand resting on the top of the sofa supporting her head so she could still see him. Harry intertwined his fingers with those of her free hand as he continued. "Pepper up wasn't touching it, I thought they might have something to knock it on its head. If it was something the kids could catch, I wanted it gone before the three of them came down with it. Turns out I've developed a resistance to bicorn horn. There are six or so potions that use it that I could conceivably have taken to build up my resistance. Two are for arthritis, so it wasn't them. Pepper-up and three variants I'd never heard of, and a love potion."

"They've confirmed long term use?"

"Yeah." Harry frowned at her feeling his anger roll through him again. "Did he try it on you? Is that why you never married him? Are they all in on it?"

"Ron? No. no, he didn't, or if he did, it didn't work. I didn't marry Ron because we don't make a good couple. I'm driven and studious and hate the limelight. He wants an easy life, a wife that will dote on him and a level of adoration from the world in general that I could never live with. He knew better than to ask. I love Ron, but not a forever kind of love. We're not a good match, that's why I didn't marry him."

"He loved you, you know," Harry said looking at her sadly.

"Ron loved a version of me, maybe if I'd stayed sixteen and hormonal we've had made it but, alas." Hermione shrugged.

"Hermione I've got three kids, Lily is nearly four! I'm a father, I've been married to her for twelve years. Was our whole relationship a lie? How could anyone do that to a person? Don't my feelings count? Don't I get a say? Honestly, right now I want her and anyone else involved dead. I can't face her knowing what she's done. I can't even fucking divorce her."

"Are you sure she knows?"

"How could she not? Long term exposure. This wasn't just while we were at school, its continued after that."

"Molly used a love potion on Arthur. She told us when we were kids. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes have a whole product line based on them, no matter what I did to shut it down. The Weasleys don't see love potions the way you and I do Harry."

"Wait, that was you? Ron really dug into that trying to find out who got the investigation started. That was you?"

"Yes, because love potions take away your freedom. I fought to get house elves better rights despite the fact most of them want to spit on me for it. Of course I sent an anonymous letter to the right department listing the known ingredients they were using that weren't quite on the up and up. If Ron hadn't left his notes lying around I wouldn't have found out would I." Hermione huffed indignantly.

Harry stared at her making her twitch under the intensity, before she could ask if she had ink on her face he stated. "I want to kiss you."

"What?!" she looked at him in unfeigned shock.

"I want to kiss you. I want to kiss somebody I know I want to kiss. Somebody that hasn't maybe dosed me with love potions as long as I've known them," Harry said determinedly. "I want something, one thing that isn't a goddamn lie."

"That would be a colossally stupid idea, you know that, right?"

"Would it?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why did we never get our shot Hermione?"

Hermione sighed. "Because. Because we only worked it out in that bloody tent. Because Ron came back and you bowed out, and then Ginny was back, and I bowed out. Because of a million reasons Harry. I love you, you love me. We'll do anything for each other. It's not romantic anymore, that ship sailed, and we missed it. What we've got now it's enough. It's better."

Harry frowned and looked down at their intertwined fingers and then up at her knowing eyes. He considered her words. Hermione was in wrinkled robes; her hair was wild where she'd likely have been twisting and twirling locks of it while she researched. She'd probably not eaten all day, she had certainly lost track of time. He'd barged into her office spitting mad, and she'd sat him down and sorted his tumbled thoughts into cohesion. Without Hermione, he would be lost. He thought about kissing her anyway. He sighed in defeat. She was right, it wasn't romantic between them and kissing her would be stupid. A petulant act of defiance worthy of one of his children, not the man he was supposed to be.

"You think Molly did this?" Harry asked.

"It wasn't Ginny when she was ten. She might have taken over, or she might not know anything about it still. How many Sunday meals at the Burrow have you missed?" Hermione asked as she started to think about the problem.

"Barely any. It's not worth the aggro and then once the kids arrived Molly wanted to see them. The kids like the freedom of the garden there, it was just easier to go."

"Exactly. If Molly dosed you so her little girl could have the boy she always wanted…"

"Fucking hell Hermione, what do I do?"

"Well, first we need to find out who is responsible. If it was Molly or Ginny or both. Then you decide if your marriage is over."

"Oh, it's over."

"Right, well, then you need to get me a copy of your marriage contract, and I will see if I can find you an out."

"What if you can't find an out?"

"Well," Hermione said biting her lip. Her face was pensive, she glanced at him once, then nodded to herself. "You mentioned something about wanting them dead. That's something I could do."


End file.
